1/72nd Airfix Short Stirling, 1940 edition

[Heather Kay]

Short Stirling MkI Series 1, MG-D N3641, No 7 Squadron, RAF Oakington, Bomber Command, late 1940

 

 

According to my own rules about my 1940 collection, aircraft such as the Avro Manchester, Handley Page Halifax and Short Stirling shouldn’t be eligible for inclusion. All three aircraft mentioned, although in squadrons by the end of 1940, really didn’t begin proper operational flying until early 1941. I do feel, however, it is important to show how decisions made late in the 1930s led to the aircraft that would take the war back to Germany in the 1940s.

 

Virtually from its foundation, and throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Royal Air Force followed the doctrine that to be an effective defence force meant having more and better bombers than any prospective enemy. The Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) was built on this guiding principle from its earliest days. The strategic bombing force was the jewel in the RAF’s crown, with fighters coming very much second best. A country didn’t need silly little peashooters to prevent an enemy attacking it; it just need more bombers to deter the enemy in the first place. This principle, of being able to hit back just as hard, if not harder, remains to this day – only with nuclear warheads instead of aeroplanes.

 

Until the 1930s, the notional “enemy” the bomber force was to counter was France. With the rise of Hitler in 1933, all that changed. The Air Ministry began desperately chasing an almost entirely fictitious figure, that of how many bombers Germany was able to build, and how quickly. The attempts to retain or even beat parity with Luftwaffe bomber numbers would obsess the Ministry for the rest of the decade, and require ever more precious money from the Treasury. Various schemes were put forward to boost front line bomber strength to match that of the Luftwaffe. From 1934, the stated aim was to reach a total of 41 bomber squadrons by the end of March 1939, but this set of goal posts continued to move until war eventually broke out. With a lack of new designs on the horizon, the various expansion schemes tended to fall back on quantity over quality. Many obsolete light bombers were ordered just to make up the numbers quickly.

 

Eventually, sense began to prevail. Specifications, thrashed out by committee, began to be drawn up to encourage manufacturers to tender for new bomber designs. Aircraft, such as the Bristol Blenheim, Fairey Battle, Vickers Wellington, Handley Page Hampden, and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, were created and filled the squadrons of Bomber Command - but the Air Ministry’s eyes were always on the next level. In 1936, it was realised the RAF may well need even larger aircraft, capable of delivering more bombs further and faster than the current designs.

 

 

Air Ministry specifications P.13/36 and B.12/36 were circulated in July 1936, inviting tenders from the main British aircraft and engine manufacturers. The former called for a twin-engined medium bomber for “worldwide” use, meaning it would be capable of operating in a wide variety of environments. It was also expected to be able to carry two torpedoes in its bomb bay. This flexibility in the design of the bay meant both the Halifax and Manchester-cum-Lancaster were much more adaptable to new ordnance designs.

 

B.12/36, on the other hand, was the Ministry sort of hedging its bets in case the “heavy twins” concept didn’t bear fruit. The specification called for a four-engined heavy bomber, capable of cruising at 250mph over 1500 miles with at least a 4000lb bomb load. Tenders for designs were submitted by Bristol, de Havilland, Vickers-Armstrong, Armstrong Whitworth, Vickers Supermarine and Short Brothers. Only the last two were given orders, and work began on detail design and prototypes. The Supermarine Type 317 and 318 prototypes were under construction at the outbreak of war in 1939. Supermarine, however, was a small company, and found themselves virtually swamped with orders for their small fighter and the Walrus amphibian. The bomber prototypes were worked on in a piecemeal fashion at the company’s Woolston, Hampshire, factory, until late September 1940 when a Luftwaffe raid destroyed the aircraft and most of the drawings associated with them. The Air Ministry cancelled the order in November. The only B.12/36 design to see operations was the Stirling.

 

The myth has always been the 100ft wing span limitation was to accommodate the new type in standard RAF hangars. The standard hangar of the time was larger than that, and the specification actually expected routine maintenance to be done in the open. It should be noted the reason for the limitation was more down to the Air Ministry wanting to limit the overall size of the aircraft. Worries were voiced that a very large aircraft simply wouldn’t be able to operate safely from typical bomber airfields, which were pretty much universally grass fields at the time. It was also expected that the new aircraft should be easily broken down into manageable pieces that could be transported by road to maintenance centres. The centre fuselage, for instance, was not to exceed 35ft long, 9ft 6in high and 8ft wide. These sorts of restrictions meant the designers had to be a bit creative about where the bomb load was to be carried.

 

The Air Staff had discussed the types of bombs the new design was to carry. No bomb heavier than the 500lb general purpose was expected to be deployed in any future conflict, and such things as 4000lb, 8000lb and 12000lb bombs were beyond comprehension at the time. The designs submitted to B.12/36, therefore, were to carry a large load of 250lb and 500lb general purpose bombs, only just coming into service in 1936. A 2000lb bomb was also being introduced, but it was considered this weapon wouldn’t be used against land targets, designed as it was for use against heavily-armoured capital ships. The B.12/36 specification omitted the requirement for the new bomber to carry torpedoes. This oversight, perhaps intentional since the parallel P.13/36 specification did include torpedoes, would lead to limitations in the Stirling’s operational usefulness.

 

 

The first prototype Stirling had its maiden flight from Short’s Rochester factory site, with Lankester Parker at the controls, on 14 May 1939. The big plane handled well, but a brake seized on the port main wheel on landing. The aircraft slewed and the undercarriage collapsed. The first prototype had to be written off, and the undercarriage had to be redesigned to make it stronger. The second prototype didn’t fly until December 1939. L7605 was eventually flown to the A&AEE at Boscombe Down in April 1940 for testing and acceptance trials.

 

The RAF’s Scheme L expansion plan called for 3,500 heavy bombers to be delivered by April 1942, around 1,500 of which were to be the new Stirling. Such numbers meant Short began building aircraft at the Short & Harland factory in Belfast, plus Austin Motors at Longbridge providing a third production line, as well as various subcontracted firms for smaller components. The first production Stirling from Rochester flew in May 1940, but Belfast’s first aircraft flight wasn’t until October. On 9 August 1940, Short’s Rochester factory was attacked by the Luftwaffe, destroying six newly-completed aircraft, and another six destroyed by an attack on the Belfast factory a week later. Deliveries were also slowed as priority from May 1940 was given to other aircraft already in production. A total of 15 Stirlings had been delivered by the end of 1940.

 

 

No 7 Squadron had been operating Hampdens at the start of the war. It had been disbanded in April 1940, but was reformed in August specifically for operating the big new bomber. Deliveries began in late August 1940, but the aircraft were found to be somewhat underpowered. Shorts were busy trying to improve the performance of the Bristol Hercules engines, but until the improved aircraft were ready the fifteen Stirlings at Oakington were designated as trainers, and used to familiarise the aircrews with the new planes.

 

 

 

Upgrades and scratch building enhanced the rather basic flight deck in the venerable Airfix kit. Many thanks to @12jaguar John, part of the Stirling Project, who helped with detail research and information.

 

I was attracted to the early camouflage layout for my model. The first MkIs in service had a retractable belly turret, and lacked the dorsal turret more familiar in later marks. There were other detail differences, and I thought it would make an unusual variant to the Stirlings usually modelled. I chose to do the conversion work on an old Airfix kit rather than invest in the now-scarce Italeri modern tooling. I didn’t realise the modern kit contained parts to make an early MkI. Some aftermarket parts, such as a photo-etch detail set and vacuum-formed transparencies, were acquired, and some old-fashioned kit-bashing and scratchbuilding took place. Sadly, the turrets defeated me. I had planned to use the Falcon vac-form parts and scratch interior details, with brass barrels to finish off. I simply couldn’t get the clear parts to fit nicely, and rather than leave the model as a shelf queen when it was so close to completion, I opted to modify the original kit parts and paint them black as temporary fittings. One day, I will either work out how to make decent turrets or end up buying an Italeri kit and doing a new version! Either way, I enjoyed the research and modelling that has given me a fairly decent rendition of a really early Short Stirling for my 1940 obsession.

 

The WIP thread for the Stirling is part of a much longer thread dedicated to all of my 1940 Bomber Command builds. The Stirling part, full of pitfalls and errors, sort of begins here:

 

 

Edited August 13 by Heather Kay
Formatting corrections.

[fatalbert]

Wow that truly is a thing of beauty,the Stirling has always been a favourite of mine and your work makes me want to dig one out of the stash and have a go.Am looking forward to seeing your Manchester build 🙂

[ColonelKrypton]

Very nicely done.  You have done proud that old Airfix Sterling.

 

cheers, Graham

 

[LorenSharp]

Beautiful Job Heather. An elegant example of one of the 'Bigguns' One COULD say it's a "Sterling example" I know I know..... Cooler!------------------------>

[Eric Mc]

Amazing. I might start my Stirling soon and this is a true inspiration.

[jean]

SPLENDID WORK!!!

 

JR

[elger]

wonderful. one of the best Stirling models I've seen!

[johnny akes]

Always a treat to see a Stirling, especially one as good as this. I wish I had your focus and clarity of vision Heather, to research a subject so exhaustively and then bring it to fruition.

 

The Airfix kit might be ancient and lacking in a few areas, but to my mind it’s still better than the Italeri one with its trench-like panel lines.

 

I’d love someone to give us a 1/48 Stirling kit, but it’s probably too obscure (to non-Brits) to ever see the light of day sadly.

[woody37]

Wow, it's turned out brilliantly Heather, great to see the old kit getting some TLC. Those resin windows really improve the look. Love the early scheme with low demarcation line, great one to choose

 

Could you use a rear turret from a more modern Lancaster kit? I might even have one in the pares box. 

 

Cheers

Neil

[Heather Kay]

13 minutes ago, woody37 said:

Could you use a rear turret from a more modern Lancaster kit? I might even have one in the pares box. 

Thanks Neil! 
 

Now, I think a purist would point out the Lancaster tail turret is a different shape to the Stirling's. I have to say, I’m not that much of a purist. As I’m about to embark on converting a Lancaster into a Manchester, I already potentially have a spare I can use there. Thanks for the idea, though. It’s got me thinking I might be able to do a bodge remodelling session using bits from other kits even if they’re not quite right.

[Ed Russell]

12 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

It should be noted the reason for the limitation was more down to the Air Ministry wanting to limit the overall size of the aircraft.

Pino Lombardi's really excellent monograph on the Stirling has a similar but different take on it.

 

 

Very nice job you have done there. I have done two Stirlings - you have almost inspired me to do another!

[cngaero]

Huge and ungainly, but beautiful in an odd sort of way. You've captured the stance and presence of this big beastie perfectly. The finish of your Stirling is absolutely superb and would grace any Bomber Command display.

Well done Heather and thanks for sharing it here with us.

I wait with bated breath for your next one.

 

Chris.

[Bandsaw Steve]

Great model with a very informative write-up. Congratulations on this one Heather. 

[Pete in Lincs]

It's been a long and interesting trip, Heather. Many thanks and very well done as always. 

[tomprobert]

Fantastic build, Heather. I have a soft spot for the Stirling and your rendition is rather lovely!

[Heather Kay]

1 minute ago, tomprobert said:

your rendition is rather lovely

Thanks Tom! I’m afraid I’ve flattered it with photography. In reality, it’s a proper three-footer. I’m still happy with it, anyway.

[tomprobert]

1 minute ago, Heather Kay said:

Thanks Tom! I’m afraid I’ve flattered it with photography. In reality, it’s a proper three-footer. I’m still happy with it, anyway.

And that’s all that matters. 
 

But… I think you are being harsh on yourself here - the old Airfix kit needs some TLC and yours looks like a far more modern tooling. Credit where it’s due!

[JOCKNEY]

Congratulations Heather

 

Looks terrific and without the dorsal turret, I wasn't aware of this being absent on the early aircraft 

 

Cheers Pat 

[Dunny]

Heather,

 

Lovely work. I built the Italeri Mk.I a while ago which was no breeze, but you have certainly made a fantastic finish of this venerable kit,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

 

[Keeff]

Outstanding work Heather! 

Great to see the end result .... with turrets!  

 

Keith 😁 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Awesome job!  Future photos could use a nice airfield bowser parked nearby for scale...

[Heather Kay]

9 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Future photos could use a nice airfield bowser parked nearby for scale...

When I’ve had a chance to make new photo base big enough!

[Navy Bird]

Superb work on the old Airfix tooling. You should be real proud of that one. I have the new Italeri kit but I am a bit dismayed at the panel lines and other surface detailing. A bit overboard I would say. I've been reluctant to build it...

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Heather Kay]

3 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

I've been reluctant to build it...

If you ever want to sell it, let me know. 

[sprue]

Well done Heather it just goes to show that there's life left in some of the old Airfix models, it's just a question of who gives way first. You or the model.

Here's the link to the one I did a few years ago